Spiritual Gifts

During Lent this year, our church is studying the topic of Spiritual Gifts. I am preaching a sermon series on the subject using 1 Corinthians 12 as my scripture text, and we have 3 small groups organized that are working through the book "Serving from the Heart" together. So, I thought I would outline a few basic thoughts on spiritual gifts here. Warning: for those of you who were in church on Sunday, this may sound pretty familiar!

1) Spiritual gifts are gifts given to us graciously and lovingly by God. This means that we haven't done anything to earn or deserve them. They are a free gift. This also means that we don't get to choose which gift(s) we get. God does not present us with a list and say, "Pick whichever ones you want." No, God (in God's infinite wisdom and kindness) chooses which gift(s) will be best for us. So, we should never be jealous of someone else's gift, but thankful because God chose the perfect gift(s) for us.

2) Spiritual gifts are spiritual in nature. This means that they are different than our natural talents and abilities. They have nothing to do with our genetic material or even with how we have been raised and nurtured. They are given by the Spirit of God. When the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, we are changed: we repent from our sins, we are renewed in the image of God, the process of sanctification begins in our lives, and we are gifted by our Creator.

3) Spiritual gifts are different for different people. There are a variety of gifts and ways to use them, but they all come from one God. Some people have one gifts; others have many. Some are very strong - even miraculous or supernatural - in the exercise or display of their gift(s) and some are not. But God is the source of all our gifts, and everyone who believes in Jesus Christ and has the Holy Spirit in their hearts has at least one spiritual gift!

4) Spiritual gifts are given to us for a reason. God gives them to us not for our own benefit or glory. They are given to us for God's glory and "for the common good" (1 Corinthians 12:7). We are to use what God has given to us to benefit others, to make the world a better place, to expand the Reign of God, to love our neighbors, and for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Next Sunday, we will seek to identify and discover what each of our individual spiritual gifts are - I'm excited and hope you are too!